Amigas—we can’t live without them and sometimes they drive us crazy. If you’re lucky, your long-lost sisters become lifelong friends. Over the years, I’ve noticed television shows being the place where female friendship has flourished on screen. There has been a liberation of new topics and taboos that weren’t ever shown before, giving us more room for representation, and new role models to aspire and relate to.
These shows create a place where our main characters can make mistakes through growing pains, having a support system to fall back on. As an adult, you’re left to wonder, how does one actually make new friends? To be honest, mostly through work but also through mutual friends or unexpected acquaintances—just like our heroines do.
Here are five shows to add to your watch list that navigate female friendship.
Freeform’s The Bold Type
Three modern-millennial women work for a big magazine in New York City. Sounds cliche, right? The premise might be, but boy does this show tackle some things even I’ve never seen done on network television before. It’s got #MeToo movements, sex-positive topics, race conversations between friends, millennial divorce, deportations, and career choices, all that impact love and relationships—this show covers pretty much everything. And The Bold Type keeps character development central to the plot without making these topics feel forced.
At the fictional Scarlet magazine, we meet Jane the writer, Sutton the assistant, and Kat the head of social media in season one. Throughout the series, these ladies become more than just their job titles, building a lifelong sisterhood. Each with their own problems and completely different approaches to life, they manage to support each other without judgment. It’s a great show to watch if you’re looking for a confidence boost and a supportive friend trio to manifest.
Sadly, The Bold Type ended earlier this year after five seasons, but you can stream all the episodes on Hulu.
Netflix’s Desenfrenadas aka Unstoppable
What do you do when everyone in your friend group is facing a transition in life? Leave all your problems behind and road trip to Oaxaca! When our privileged friend group finally decides to help new amiga Marcela, after being robbed by her at gunpoint, the show really gets going. They learn from each other and open up about what they want in life, making a story about friends who tolerate and support each other. Desenfrenadas gives perspective on adding a new friend to the mix, someone who doesn’t seem to belong but ends up being the glue in the group.
Desenfrenadas is raw and unexpected. I’ll be honest, it did take me two starts to give this show a go but I’m so glad I came back. Our main character Vera might give you some gross entitlement vibes in episode one, but I promise you, the unraveling of her character is worth it. As a first-gen daughter, I often think about what my life would be like had my parents not immigrated here. Shows like this make me think about the self-discovery journey, friendship’s role in it, and how relatable not knowing what you really want is.
Did I start talking like these characters for a week? Neta. No shame.
HBO’s Insecure
HBO’s Insecure is an awkward coming-of-age story centered around Issa’s life decisions (I’m a firm believer that we are always coming-of-age, no matter what age you are). While the plot centers around Issa’s growth, the subplot with her best friend Molly takes center stage beside Issa’s love life. Always at different life stages, Molly and Issa push each other to be better people. Sometimes, the push means space. Other times, it means forgiveness.
Insecure does an amazing job showing how to navigate the raw, awkward moments in a friendship where one friend is growing in a direction you might not want to follow. Issa and Molly’s relationship is a roller coaster but one that feels so familiar. If you’ve ever had a friend who you didn’t speak for months, this show will resonate with you.
How do you navigate those periods of silence? How do you learn to accept one another after changing during your time apart? Sometimes our longest relationships become the blueprint for our future friendships. Insecure continues to demonstrate how people keep growing – even when you’re in your thirties. Watch previous seasons on HBO Max before the final season premieres on October 24.
Netflix’s Sexify
How comfortable are you talking to your friends about orgasms? This show will have you relate to one of our three heroines, and maybe spark a revolution in your own friend group. When our genius introvert, Natalia has to change her app idea in order to graduate, she turns her research into something everyone at her university wants—sex and pleasure. Natalia’s new app? How to improve the female orgasm. There’s just one problem: she’s never had one. She recruits her best friend Paulina and her roommate Monika to help navigate this new venture. Turns out, they also struggle with coming to terms with the word and their personal pleasure.
Sexify is a sex-positive show that explores a patriarchal taboo topic and empowers our heroines to define what pleasure means for them. This show is honest, relatable and really funny too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show in Polish before so that made it even better. There are similar parallels to Latinas growing up in religious households where families don’t talk about female pleasure, which I found super interesting. Our heroines dive into their own journey into figuring out what they want, defining their sexuality, and accepting each other along the way.
It was definitely one of those shows I kept thinking about after I binged. Thankfully, we are getting a season two sometime next year.
Netflix’s Sky Rojo
Sometimes we meet our best friends in the most unlikely places and in the most desperate scenarios. That’s how our tres tías meet—Wendy, Gina, and Coral. Trying to escape a sex traffic ring, these three friends make desperate decisions to survive and save each other time and time again.
While this friendship starts with survival, our heroines bond deeply as they learn the most intimate secrets about each other. No room for judgment, they figure out how to navigate their triggers, having each other’s backs throughout the series. Find out why I categorize this show as a must-binge and get ready for the final season sometime next year.
